Xtreme Faces Son of Astros’ Roger Clemens in Cooperstown
Staff Reports
The Gilroy-based Silicon Valley Xtreme 12-and-under players found themselves in a baseball player’s dream Tuesday at the Cooperstown Dreams Park Tournament in New York: Playing baseball at the birthplace of the sport on the Fourth of July against the son of major league ace Roger Clemens.
In Tuesday’s action, the Xtreme faced the Texas Longhorns and Chase Clemens while Roger Clemens sat on a bucket watching the game from the Longhorn dugout.
The Gilroy team lost, but the players ended the game on a positive note by having their picture taken with the future Hall of Famer.
The Xtreme began elimination play Wednesday afternoon.
Gilroy Glory 14&U Takes Second at 4th of July Tourney
After playing five straight games in 95 degree heat with no break between games, the Gilroy Glory girls’ fastpitch softball 14-and-under team finished runners-up in the 4th of July Tournament held in Modesto. The Glory ultimately fell in the championship game to the undefeated Yuba Sutter Sting. Sixteen teams competed in this double elimination tournament.
Monday’s championship run began with the Lodi Valley Heat, the only team to defeat the Glory previously. The Glory scored two runs in the third inning on a walk to Mel Morelos, a base hit by Brenna O’Neill and an error. Gilroy tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning, the key hit a triple by Morelos. The Valley Heat scratched out three runs in the sixth and seventh innings, but it was not enough. Pitcher Danielle Kinoshita picked up her second win.
In the next game against the Sierra Gold Rush, the Glory jumped out to a 7-0 lead by the second inning and cruised to an 8-3 victory. Sara Spindel picked up her third victory of the tournament. Morelos, O’Neill and Lindsay Holt each had two hits.
Against the Manteca Liberty, Gilroy fell behind 4-0 after the first two innings before exploding for five runs in the third. The Glory added three more runs in the fourth inning of the 9-5 victory. Spindel and Kinoshita shared the pitching duties.
Game 4 had Gilroy defeating the San Jose Renegades 9-1 behind the pitching of Kinoshita. Michelle Sosa led the attack with a double and two base hits. O’Neill, Alyssa Castro and Holt had two hits each. The win sent Gilroy into the championship game against the undefeated Yuba Sutter Sting.
After five consecutive games played in the scorching Modesto heat, the Glory ran out of gas in the championship game while Yuba Sutter came out hitting. Pitchers Castro, Spindel, Kinoshita and Ashley Hernandez could not contain the Sting.
The Gilroy Glory started off the tournament on Saturday against the Lodi Valley Heat with a 6-3 loss. The Heat scored five runs in the fifth inning. Morelos had a home run for Gilroy, but the Glory couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead. The Glory won its next game 8-4 against the Tracy Titans. The team came out firing, scoring two runs in the first, one each in the second and third innings. Then Gilroy blew the game open in the fourth with four runs to take an 8-0 lead. Base hits from Sosa, Juli Wallace, Holt, Castro and O’Neill combined with walks and errors sprinkled in helped the Glory win.
On Sunday, Gilroy defeated the Chico Chicks 11-2. Amanda Poso, Morelos, and O’Neill each got two hits to lead the attack. Against the Stockton Roadrunners, Gilroy began the game with back-to-back triples from Sosa and Morelos to go up 2-0. The Roadrunners scored two runs in the third inning to tie the game, but Gilroy came through in the sixth inning to win 3-2.
Castro led off with a hit and scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice bunt from Liz Wallace.
